Athletes Write To No. 10 In Bid To Keep Funding

Britain’s elite athletes are desperately seeking a meeting with prime minister David Cameron in a bid to keep alive the annual £162m grant for school sports in the UK.

Education secretary Michael Gove’s made the decision to cut the fund from the end of March 2011 that helps 450 school sports partnerships across England.

Now 75 athletes including Denise Lewis, Tessa Sanderson and Gail Emms have signed a written letter to the prime minister asking for an urgent meeting to try and stop the fund from being cut.

Emms was the organiser of the letter that includes: ‘With one ill-conceived cut you are on the brink of destroying everything schools, clubs and the national governing bodies of sport are doing to ensure this and future generations embrace sport and physical activity, not shun it.’

The letter adds: ‘The future health of all our children is at risk if you axe this funding. We urge you to act now, please, prime minister, and look again at the permanent withdrawal of funding for school sport partnerships before you condemn millions of children to a lack of sporting opportunities and therefore a bleak future of lethargy, obesity and unhappiness.’

The schools use the money to run PE classes where there are no trained staff,  as well as organise sports clubs during and after school and run competitions and events.

Gove announced last month that the funding would be dropped and replaced with spending of £10m on a new school Olympics.?